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Critics and Fans

The appeal of Grand Funk (as it was almost always
shortened) is a bit difficult to understand. Critics,
almost universally, panned the band as being too simple
and loud. They said that the simple guitar chord
progressions over the loud, heavy beat couldn't become
popular -- no one in their right mind could possibly
find anything interesting in this band or their music.
But the fans didn't listen -- they saw a difference.

As anyone who was at one of those early concerts can
tell you -- as anybody who saw the band live will
attest -- in order to understand the Grand Funk
phenomena you have to look beyond the skill and
technique of the musicians themselves; you have to
look beyond the guitar chords, the bass lines and the
drum beats to something more. It sounds a little too
cliche, but Mark, Don, and Mel had a special
charisma
that almost literally grabbed an audience, held them
totally engrossed throughout an entire performance,
and didn't let go until the last echo of the last
encore had totally faded away.

What the critics failed to see, what the fans noticed
immediately is that Grand Funk Railroad did not simply
try to imitate the popular music of the day -- they
were innovators. Other popular rock bands at the time
usually consisted of
musicians
who were more interested in their musical technique
than anything else. In concert, these musicians might
be seen as playing for themselves, off in their own
little world, occasionally talking with other band
members on stage, almost completely ignoring the
audience.

Grand Funk was different.

Although the members of the band were technically
proficient; although the members of the band were
becoming well known for several musical innovations;
they wanted more. More than just musicians, the
members of Grand Funk Railroad were also
entertainers.
They wanted to involve their audience with their
music; they wanted their audience to have just as much
fun listening to the music and watching the performance
as the band had playing the music. Again, it was that
charisma -- when they played, the audience believed in
them; when they sang the audience understood and
identified with them.

And what is even more amazing is the type of
fans the band attracted. Many of the popular
groups of the time attracted what was commonly
referred to as the "teenybopper" fans -- young
girls who idolized and fantasized about their
heros in the band. Grand Funk quickly
attracted fans from all age groups --
"teenyboppers" through thirty-somethings --
some without even having seen the band. Their
music just had that kind of power. Once they
started touring, concerts would often sell out
weeks in advance. In fact, Grand Funk beat The
Beatles records at
Shea Stadium
and sold out Madison Square Garden so fast that
a second show had to be quickly scheduled.